Nike takes gaming to the streets

Nike’s experimental Alternate Reality Game (ARG) campaign is set to kick start this Friday across London. The footwear brand is promoting both its products and a positive fitness message via Nike Grid, a 24 hr urban running game that divides the capital into a game-board of 40 competing postcodes. The location-based game sees users registering online  and then running between telephone boxes, entering 4-digit codes as they go, in order to receive points. (Apparently locations will be monitored to stop users from donning skates or hopping on a bus)

The activity owes much to location-based service Foursquare, as it utilises the service’s ‘badges’ concept enabling participants to acquire badges for speed, endurance and stamina during the event. The person who manages to collect the most points in a particular area claims that postcode’s crown’ (aping Foursquare’s ‘Mayor’ status)

A promotional ad has been running online featuring London grime artist Tempa T – who created a track especially for the event -  encouraging users to get involved.

Gamers are in many ways a disconnected community despite their deep online social connections. A console gamer dispatching opponents on Call Of Duty, or thrashing a competitor on a sports game, has no more than an ID for reference. Likewise games such as World Of Warcraft are ultimately shrouded by the virtual self as users create uber idealistic identities online. ARG’s – which blend the real with the fictional, the digital with the actual – play out with a far more human touch. Confined by consoles, a clutter of Guitar Hero peripherals and deep MMORG networks, gaming is now looking for a new tangible lease of life outside the screen.

ARGs have been growing in popularity for a while now, but what is particularly interesting about this one is the use of ‘found’ or existing tech – in this case virtually obsolete phone boxes – as the centre piece for the concept.  With the advent of Augmented Reality and the ability to layer the real environment with digital media, the opportunity to explore the city – the reality you find yourself in everyday – suddenly opens up into an exciting and constantly morphing playground for brands.

The gig race is on

Ted Baker’s new Born menswear range has launched a new campaign which will require dedication, stamina, and quite possibly ear plugs. In order to promote its new Born clothing range of shirts, polo shirts, T-shirts, and hoodies  – all aimed at a younger 18-24-year-old audience than its mainline brand – Born is setting a ‘Gig Race’ challenge.  Contestants involved will have two weeks to attend as many gigs as they can, whilst blogging and twittering their exploits as they go. The eventual winner will walk away with £1,000 of Born by Ted Baker clothing and possibly a Guinness World Record for the most gigs attended in one week. As well as that Born has two tickets for his year’s sold out Bestival music event, featuring Kraftwerk, Lily Allen, Fleet Foxes and Massive Attack, to give away.

If you think you have what it takes to tackle this musical triathlon, then you can sign up via the link below.

www.bornbytedbaker.com

http://twitter.com/bornbytedbaker

Nokia is once again turning a part of London into a roller disco, as it rolls out Nokia Skate Almighty for a second year. The event offers up a free hour of skating accompanied by DJ’s and live performances from Little Boots and Calvin Harris. Nokia is to offer an exclusive remix of the Little Boots track Remedy (A1 Bassline remix) via the Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music for four weeks. The skate park will be open from 6-9th August at Potters Field, next to Tower Bridge

skatealmighty.nokia.co.uk

FRUKT Sessions #002: Brands on Tour

With over 60 million people attending live music events in the UK each year, and an estimated 450 festivals over the summer, it’s clear that fans are zipping up their boots and buying their tickets to get in the mosh pit. As consumer brands seek to build closer relationships with their audience through these live experiences they will face countless challenges along the way.

FRUKT Sessions #002: Brands on Tour will examine the relationship between brands and live music, including best practices from the international live arena as well as a peek into the future.

Speakers and panelists include Sarah Tinsley (Bacardi), Tim Pearson (NME) and Stuart Galbraith (Kilimanjaro).

Date: Wednesday 3rd December, 3pm- 6pm. Networking drinks from 6pm

RSVP to sessions@fruktmusic.com or Ollie on 020 7017 8181.

The UK Festival Awards

The UK Festival Awards have become the most recognised and talked about event in the UK Music Festival calendar for both fans and industry alike.

The UK Festival Awards ceremony will take place on the evening of 30th October at the Indigo2, London and will feature some very special live performances as well as a seated meal at the Gaucho Grill.

This year will also see the first ever UK Festival Awards Conference (30th October, Gibson Showrooms, London). The conference will see some of the industry’s most influential figures debating the key issues concerning the future success of festivals. Panellists include:

• Rob Da Bank (Festival director, Bestival)

• Andy Copping (Director, Download Festival)

• Peter Elliot (MD, Primary Talent)

• John Giddings (MD, Solo Agency)

For information on how to buy tickets for both events, please visit: https://ukfa-secure.ticketline.co.uk/

Adidas cleans up central London

Adidas is staging the “hottest grime event ever” to celebrate both the launch of its adiZones project and the release of Kano’s latest album. Tickets to the exclusive event at a ‘secret London location’ are available by registering for a sweepstake via a MySpace site.

The £1M adiZones project ties in with Adidas’s sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics and the company’s pledge to invest £100M in the games. The project comprises five free-use community multi-sport areas – situated in Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Hackney, and Newham – which will house sporting activities 365 days a year.

To promote the upcoming concert, RWD teamed up with Adidas to create five pimped-out adiZone Mercedes-Benz GL-Class SUV vehicles – complete with 5,000 watts of FUSION Electronics. Also performing at the event will be Wiley, Skepta, and Ghetto.

So what?: Adidas is taking its Olympic campaign to the streets, meeting its urban youth customers at their level, on their terms. Come 2012 we’ll have a lot of shiny new stadiums, so it’s good to see a brand providing a more accessible route to sport in somewhat disadvantaged areas. Using RWD and artists that are already immersed in underground culture stops the overriding altruistic nature of the campaign from being viewed as a purely charitable act. This credibility prevents Adidas as being perceived as a purely ‘Robin In The ‘Hood’ figure.

“I absolutely love the adiZones idea. Creating spaces that are of real use to local communities and capture the imagination of local youth. Why not extend the connection to music beyond the grime gig and integrate it more completely into the adiZones programme. Invest in the music too, Adidas. You know you wanna.”
Ant Swede, Creative Planner, FRUKT

www.myspace.com

Win tickets to Diesel’s XXX party in London

The Diesel clothing brand is to stage a massive XXX party across 17 cities, including Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai, London and New York. N.E.R.D, M.I.A and Hot Chip are set to play at a “Rock and Roll circus” event at the New York grand finale of the party alongside fire-eaters and trapeze artists.

The London leg of Diesel’s global 30th birthday party will see 30 of London’s best loved artists getting up on stage to collaborate together on totally unique versions of 30 tracks for a one-off live performance. Guests include – TheCocknBullKid, Disco Bloodbath, Friendly Fires, Hannah Hanra, Lethal Bizzle, Mark Ronson, Mystery Jets, New Young Pony Club, Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, Rob da Bank, The Lovely Jonjo, These New Puritans, The Souljazz Records Soundsystem, The Teenagers, The View and many more.

Venue: Matter at The O2, Peninsula Square, London

Date: 11th October

Time:9pm – 3am

We have a pair of these sold out tickets to give away in conjunction with Ticket-text.com. Simply email: competitions@brandsbandsfans.com marking your entry ‘ I want your XXX’ to get tickets to the party of the year.

Ticket-text.com saves you time, money and hassle by delivering your tickets immediately via SMS and email. Simply scan your mobile or eTicket at the venue entrance and enjoy the gig. No Postage & Packaging, No Waiting, No Queuing, No Hassle!

http://www.diesel.com/xxx/diesel.php?ID_city=15

http://www.diesel.com/xxx/

Get tickets direct to your mobile & email with www.ticket-text.com

Just the ticket

The BT Digital Music Awards are almost upon us. The prestigious event celebrates the best uses of digital technology in the music world, covering everything from the latest digital music hardware to the best artist campaigns on digital platforms.

Fearne Cotton is to present this year’s Awards at The Roundhouse in Camden on 1st October. If you fancy networking with a veritable who’s who of the music industry – and sampling performances from The Sugababes, British Sea Power, Ida Maria and Sam Beeton – you better be quick, as a very limited selection of tickets to this exclusive event are available.

Contact jo@btdma.com to find out more.

Innovation in Music and Entertainment Award

The Popkomm-IMEA is the most important prize for innovation awarded by the German music industry. The six finalists have been chosen by three judges:

Julie Meyer, founder of First-Tuesday, is acting as the sponsor for Independent IP (Netherlands), developer of an innovative B2B platform, and the music portal offering 100% royalties back to artists, Rawrip (UK).

Michael Bornhäusser, a pioneer in commercial radio and software entrepreneur, will be introducing BMAT (Spain), which has developed the Skore an online singing rating system, and the music recommendation engine The Filter (UK).

Charles Grimsdale, founder of OD2 and technology investor will be presenting the ad-funded music service roccatune (Germany) and the distribution platform Kyte (US).

Learn more about Popkomm-IMEA on www.popkommawards.com
Learn more about Popkomm Conference on www.popkomm.com/conference

As digital crashes into the music economy like a meteorite, just what will emerge in the new world left in its wake? ContentNext presents EconMusic, a conference held at the Natural History Museum in London (23rd September), focusing on the key strategic issues surrounding the emerging economics of digital music, and investigating what the music business is likely to evolve into.

www.contentnext.com